I would be in immediately, one year ago; but now, the arrows in a sixty keyboard are not an issue any more, that was solved using the elegant concept of Space-FN; therefore, there is no need for special hardware and my boards can use authentic OG Cherry and GMK.
Good luck with your project, it may pull the interest of Leopold FC660 and TKL users, if for the last their main interest are the arrows, only.
Thanks :)
Hi KHAANNN,
I've been noticing your keyboard in your other posts and admiring the intelligent layout.
Since my first try of the HHKB Pro 2, I have adopted that layout for all my keyboards (achieved via remapping software), so my layout preferences are decidedly biased toward that of the HHKB.
With this in mind, I like the layout of your 60% board, but I would have to change some things:
1. I would need to swap the Backspace and Backslash keys.
2. I use the Right Shift almost exclusively, and I have found that I need the Right Shift to be at least 1.25x. This would of course knock out the arrow keys for me, but I am fine using Fn plus the HHKB cursor diamond for the arrow keys.
For those who can use the Left Shift in preference to the Right Shift, your layout could be ideal.
Best wishes for success with your project.
Hi Hypersphere,
Thanks a lot for your kind words, from my posts in the keyboards/keycaps sections, and from general feedback/reading, I've noticed that some people type very crudely like me, use mostly the left shift already, seek dedicated arrows, and some people type using the home-row more and with 2 hands more synchronised, this is for the first group, I would guess maybe the 15%-20% of mech users, maybe less, maybe more
That's kind of the reason why I didn't bother with adding the 1.5u Backspace to the IC, those who use the 1.5u Backspace almost always have the arrows at their FN layers, so I didn't think there would be interest
So your analysis is spot on
I wish people would stop trying to shove dedicated cursor arrows into a 60% keyboard. They don't belong there. If you need cursor arrows, try a TKL or 75%. Or do like we all do, and learn to use the arrows on a function layer.
Even if you were to get a nice keycap set made for this project, you are limited to those stock keycaps. Want to use your Hack'd By Geeks or GMK HyperFuse set with this keyboard? Sorry.
I admire your drive to get YOUR ideal layout produced and offer it for others, but you are looking for a solution to a problem that does not exist.
jdcarpe I'm not seeking a solution to a universal problem, I know that a minority of people share the same tastes as me, this IC is for those people, to asses the numbers, it might be 5-10 and this idea might not take off, or it might be 50-60 and we might make this a reality
I'm not even sure whether this symmetrical arrows are optimal, I'm wondering what other people think, I'm using 1.75/1.25 arrows myself, it lacks legend-symmetry, yet mis-clicks doesn't occur, with uniform 1.25 arrows mis-clicks are a bit more likely, the 60% is for minimalism, TKL has the solution yet the extra width makes a mouse/controller harder to use, there is also not much need for the additional keys other than the arrow, a 65%/75% doesn't change anything, it even complicates things further, 1u arrows in a crowded layout are harder to use, and there is not much need for the extra keys, finding keycaps for them is also challenging
Like I mentioned in my OP, this kit will come with a pre-set keycap set, the best quality set possible, the reason for this IC is to make this possible, otherwise anyone can build any layout they want these days
I really find your attitude hostile in general, you are refuting ideas that doesn't align with your own tastes
As a bonus: